


Another Stray

by MiriamMT



Series: Gallavich OneShots (no smut) [48]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Domestic Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Fluff, Good Parent Mickey Milkovich, M/M, Married Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Parents Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23342635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiriamMT/pseuds/MiriamMT
Summary: Ian finds a baby in front of his EMT station, family services can't take him right away, so he brings the baby home to Mickey.SPOILER ALERT 10x12"You want kids?" "Hell no. With your mental problems and my family's comfort with comitting homicides?" "You're gonna marry Debbie, you could knock out a couple, could raise them together." "You want me banging your little sister?" Yeah, probably be too weird." "Yeah, you think?" "I wouldn't mind a kid or two, though." "Well, there's plenty of strays running around the neihbourhood, maybe we can pick one up for cheap."
Relationships: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Series: Gallavich OneShots (no smut) [48]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1525730
Comments: 8
Kudos: 208





	Another Stray

**Author's Note:**

> Ian is still an EMT and hasn't been to prison. Mickey is out of prison and has Larry as probation officer and the job at the mall

Mickey stood in the kitchen of his and Ian's apartment.   
They were married for about a year and with their jobs and no probation fuck-ups taking Mickey's pay-checks away, they could afford a nice tiny two-bedroom apartment.

Mickey knew exactly when his husband would come home from work, and he knew Ian would smile in that one special "That's my husband" way when he came home to see Mickey making dinner for them. He also knew that the sooner they had dinner the sooner he could fuck Ian and the sooner they could cuddle up on the couch and watch a TV show and fuck again before going to bed.

He loved their rhythm, their little married life. With him still being a Milkovich and Ian still being a Gallagher and them still being mixed up with the Gallagher-bullshit more often than Mickey liked, this rhythm was still more the exception than the rule.

He heard the front door being shut quietly and smiled.   
Ian came into the kitchen a minute later.   
"Hey Mick", he smiled, and Mickey looked at him to get the full effect of the "That's my husband" smile.

"How was work?"   
"Interesting... uhm, speaking of which... something happened."   
Mickey raised an eyebrow at him, "What happened?"

Ian's work as EMT often lead to "something happened"-evenings. They were quiet evenings during which Mickey comforted Ian and held him in his arms, instead of the other way around.

But this "something happened" was a different "something happened" than usual. It wasn't quiet, it was nervous.

"You alright?", Mickey asked when Ian bit his lip and looked away.   
"Yeah... see, I did something, and you can't be mad at me, okay? I pretty much didn't have a choice, I - I just had to! I mean what else were we supposed to do, I guess I should have asked you before but I-"   
"Whoa, stop the babbling. What did you do, Gallagher?"

They were interrupted from a sound coming from the small hallway.   
"What was that?"   
"Well..."   
Mickey sighed, "Ian, what did you do... don't tell me you brought a fucking stray home again", he said and pushed past Ian. It happened sometimes that Ian found some stray dog or cat and begged Mickey to keep them - what always earned a strict no from Mick.   
"Not really...", Ian mumbled.

Mickey stopped abruptly when he got into the hallway and his eyes fell on a baby. And actual, human baby, sitting in a car seat, holding on to a blanket and looking at him out of big blue eyes.

"Ian... why is there a baby on our floor?"

Ian walked past him and got the small human out of the seat, he held him in his arms and looked at Mickey.

"We found him in front of the station. A letter with him, his name is Elijah. His mommy can't care for him anymore..."   
"Okay, that doesn't explain why you brought him here."   
"We called family services and they will get him and place him with a nice foster family very soon, but the lady from family services was so overworked and the hospital was full and she didn't have a place for him right at the second so I said..."   
"You said what?"   
Ian shrugged, "I said we could take him... it's just until they found a family for him, Mick. I promise, it's just a day or two. And you got the next two days off work, so... please."

Ian came closer to him, "He's all alone in the world now... and he's so cute... you're always great with Freddie when we watch him."   
Mickey sighed, he didn't really have a choice. The baby was really cute, and he didn't have anyone else. And Mickey always had a hard time telling his husband no - except with stray animals. And what alternative was there anyways?

"Okay, give him here."   
Ian grinned widely and handed the baby over.   
"Hey, big guy.... How old is he?"   
"The letter said he's 5 months old."   
Mickey nodded, "Okay, you take your clothes off and relax or some shit, Elijah and I finish up dinner, right, buddy?"

Ian quickly kissed his husband and then took his shoes and heavy jacket off, actually "coming home" now and being able to relax after a long shift at work. Mickey always made sure Ian was able to do that, transition from work to homelife.

Elijah clung on Mickey's side while the Milkovich finished up their dinner with one hand. They watched Ian's nephew Freddie pretty often, so Mickey was trained in cooking with a child on his hip. Even though Lip always acted like he left Freddie with Ian and Mickey was there to help a bit, it was actually Mickey who always watched Freddie, played with him, fed him, looked at books with him and all that shit, and Ian who sat next to them and adored them.

Ian loved Freddie, but he loved watching Mickey taking care of Freddie even more. On their wedding day they had briefly talked about having kids, but since then the topic hadn't come up again. So, he made his brother give Freddie to them as often as possible, so Mickey would get used to the idea of having a child around until he wanted one himself.

"I'll plate up, go sit down", Ian said to him gently when he came back into the kitchen.   
"Say, did you in your extremely well thought-through decision of bringing a baby home consider how we're supposed to care for him? Food, diapers, clothes..."

"We still got a few of Freddie's diapers and toys here, as well as the travel-baby-bed."   
"Okay, on a more immediate note, what about food?"   
Ian shrugged, "Give him milk."   
"He's a baby, he needs more than normal bottled up milk."   
"Right... uhm, no problem, I'll just call Lip and ask him if they still have some formula." 

Mickey nodded, "You plate up dinner, I'll call him. Right now, I'm hungrier than Elijah anyways, right kid?"   
Elijah was leaning against him and was fascinated by the man's stubble on his cheek.   
"Did I ever tell you how adorable you look when you hold a baby?"   
"Every time. And I tell you every time to not call me adorable.", he smirked and went back to the living room while calling Lip.

"Hey, Mick, what's up?", Lip answered pretty quickly, usually Mickey only called him when something was wrong with Ian.   
"Hey, listen, Ian brought a baby home."   
"A what?"   
"You heard me. Little guy was left at his station, tragic story blah blah, anyways, he's staying with us for a day or two, do you happen to have some formula left over from Freddie?"   
"Uhm, yeah we always buy that shit in bulks, we can give you some... is that legal?"   
"He said he talked to family services and they can't place the baby right now and will come get him in a day or two."   
"Uh-huh... how old is that baby?", Mickey heard Lip walking around and apparently looking for formula in the kitchen.   
"Around five months."   
"Okay, I got some formula you can use. Apparently, it did pay off that Tami never liked nursing, huh? Freddie has trouble sleeping anyways, so I'll come around and bring you the stuff, maybe he finally sleeps in the car then."   
"Great, yeah, thanks"   
"No problem, see you in a bit."

They hung up and Ian came to him with their dinner.   
"So, I guess Lip thinks I'm manic again and stole a baby."   
"You didn't, right?"   
Ian rolled his eyes and looked at him, "No, it happened like I told you."   
"Good", Mickey smiled, "Would be a bummer to go back into the joint because of this cute Hobbit here, right?"

Mickey stroked his finger over Elijah's cheek and the baby grabbed his finger and held it tightly, then he put his finger into his small mouth.   
"No, my finger ain't your pacifier, Elijah. Are you so hungry that you go over to cannibalism already?"

Ian knew that he wanted exactly this with Mickey. Them having their own baby and him being able to witness Mickey being like this with a small human all the time.

Mickey took his finger back and then lay Elijah down on a big pillow on their couch. They didn't have a dining table, so they always ate on the couch.

The two men ate their dinner while the baby next to them started vocalising his own hunger, he looked around the living room and reached with his small hands for the delicious smelling food.

"Yeah, we know that you're hungry, Elijah, Uncle Lip's gonna be here with some food soon.", Ian said softly to the baby and smiled at him.   
Mickey looked at him, " _Uncle Lip_? You are aware that he's only staying with us for a maximum of two days, right?"   
"Yeah, but if he hears _Uncle Lip_ , he knows he can trust him and whatever he brings here to feed him."   
Mickey smiled at him and shook his head, "He's five months old, Gallagher. He just wants something to eat, no matter where it comes from."

Elijah eventually started crying. Mickey pushed his dinner away and picked him back up. Luckily, Lip arrived on time. Mickey paced through the living room, rocking Elijah in his arms, while Ian opened the door.

"Hey, I ain't got much time, Tami and Freddie are sitting in the car downstairs", Lip said and handed his brother a bag, but he was drawn to the living room through the baby's cries, "You actually brought a baby home"   
"His mother left him at the station. What was I supposed to do?"   
"I also put you a pacifier, a pyjama, a onesie and some extra diapers in there, if you need them. They're too small for Freddie anyways."   
"Thanks Lip", Ian said and quickly took the pacifier out and gave it to Elijah, before taking care of the milk.

Elijah sucked on the pacifier and fisted Mickey's shirt.   
"He's cute", Lip said.   
Mickey nodded while rubbing the baby's back.   
"Bummer that you can't keep him for longer, huh?", Lip said, him knowing fully well, why Ian offered to take Freddie so often.   
Mickey shrugged and sat down on the couch when Ian came back with the milk.

"So, any tips you got for us?", Ian asked grinning.   
"Get as much sleep as you can, you'll need it. Oh, and babies that age usually try to roll over on their own, don't leave him lying on the couch or some counter unattended, Carl once rolled down from his changing table and... well.", he shrugged and left their apartment.

Mickey chuckled and started feeding the baby. Ian watched him.

"You're staring at me, Gallagher", Mickey mumbled.   
"I'm gazing"   
"It's creepy"   
"It's romantic."

Mickey scoffed and looked at him, Ian smiled at him softly.   
"You'd be a good dad."   
Mickey rolled his eyes and looked back down at the baby.

After feeding time they changed his diaper, put him into Fred's pyjamas and lay him on a big pillow on the ground where he could sleep.

They had a small portable play pen here which they always used when Freddie stayed overnight - it stood in their bedroom, but Elijah started crying when they tried to lie him down there and leave the room.

"They're so cute when they're sleeping", Ian mumbled and leaned against his husband.   
Mickey just smiled wordlessly and bit back a snarky comment about Ian being cuter when he was asleep as well, because he couldn't babble nonsense then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day Mickey was alone with Freddie.   
It was soon time for Elijah's lunch and nap.

Mickey couldn't stop thinking about Lip's words about rolling over and down furniture. But so far, he hadn't witnessed Elijah trying to roll over on his own. He was able to hold his head up and look around - fascinated by about anything and willing to take everything into his mouth.

Mickey had him lying on his back and tickled him. Elijah was laughing up at him and squirming under his touch, it was adorable.   
"Hey, Elijah, can you roll over? Like a little ball? You want to train that with me, huh?"

Elijah looked at him still smiling and waiting for the next tickle-attack.   
Mickey took his small body and slowly turned him from his back on his stomach. Elijah was excited about the perspective change. Mickey rolled him back on his back.

"That fun? Can you do that on our own?", Mickey did a few more times with him, until when Elijah lay on his back again, he tried to take all his strength together and roll to his side on his own - he fell back.

Mickey chuckled while Elijah tried again and tried to hold on to the blanket he was laying on. Mickey grinned and held his finger out to Elijah, so the baby could grab it and use it to turn himself around.

Mickey applauded the baby when he made it. The Baby was grinning and laughing up at him and then tried to turn back around on his back, he seemed to be thrilled about practicing his new skill.

Ian was on break with his colleagues. They ate and talked about random shit, when Ian's phone screen lit up.   
"Mickey sent me a video", Ian mumbled when his colleagues looked at him.   
"Isn't he alone with that baby from yesterday?"   
"Yeah", Ian smiled and showed them the video of little Elijah pulling himself over on his stomach while holding on to Mickey and then rolling back the same way and laughing into the camera.

"That's cute", the colleagues all agreed, "Your man is good with kids."   
Ian nodded, "I know, that's what I'm always saying, but no one believes me."   
"Did you ever think abut having some yourselves?"

Ian shrugged, "We talked about it briefly when we got married. I definitely want children with him... I'm not really sure how he thinks about that. And well, getting a child also won't be exactly easy for us.", he shrugged.   
"I think you'd both be great daddies", one of his colleagues said.   
"Thanks Maia."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian came home and noticed that it didn't smell like dinner like usual. He walked into the living room where Mickey lay on the ground and held Elijah up into the air to let him fly around.   
This sight was better than food.

"Hey, Mickey"   
Mickey sat up and looked at him, "Hey, you're back, is it that late already?"   
"Yes, did you two have fun?"   
"Did we have fun Elijah?", Mickey asked the baby and tickled his tummy, causing the baby to laugh, "You want to play with him while I make dinner?"

Ian nodded and took the baby from him.   
"Hey Elijah, you missed me?", Ian smiled at the baby, "I've seen you doing your exercises with Mickey, you're really strong, huh?"

Mickey pecked Ian's lips grinning and went to the kitchen to make dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+

The next day, Mickey was home alone with Elijah again. They rolled around on the floor and played with some of Freddie's toys. Elijah was a happy child, laughing and babbling a lot.

Someone knocked on the door.

Mickey didn't expect anyone. He picked the baby up and walked to the door. He opened for a tired looking woman, she was smiling softly.

"Mr Gallagher?"   
"Yeah", Mickey was still glad that Ian made it to talk him into taking his last name.   
"I'm Miss Evans from Child Protective Services I'm here to pick up Elijah.", she showed him an ID from the DCFS.

Mickey stared at her. He automatically tightened his grip around the baby, as if he tried to protect him.   
"Oh", he mumbled.

The woman was here to take the baby away. Everything inside of Mickey was against giving the little guy to some woman he didn't know. But he didn't have a choice. He let the woman into the apartment.

"It was very nice of you and your, uh, husband to take care of him while we were looking for the right foster family."   
"So, you found a nice family for him?"   
"Oh yes, a nice couple, they're waiting for a baby like him for a long time already."   
"Why weren't they available when they found Elijah, then?", Mickey mumbled and put the baby into the car seat Ian had brought with him two days ago.

Miss Evans had heard him though his mumbling, "They were out of the country that's why weren't able to reach them, but they were really excited as soon as we were able to tell them about the baby. He'll be okay with them, Mr Gallagher."

Mickey nodded wordlessly and made sure Elijah had everything he originally brought with him. Mickey sighed, the baby looked at him and reached his hands out towards him, he wanted to be picked back up.

"Well, goodbye buddy.", Mickey mumbled, "Good luck with your new family."   
He handed Miss Evans the car seat and the woman made him sign a form and left quickly.

After Mickey closed the door behind her, the apartment suddenly felt overwhelmingly quiet and empty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian came home a few hours later.   
"Mick? I'm home", he called through the apartment, Mickey wasn't in the kitchen or the living room. Maybe he took a nap with Elijah in their bed.

He went to the bedroom and found Mickey there, the man lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Mick? Are you alright?... Where is Elijah?"   
Mickey looked at him, "They came and took him away", he whispered, "He's with his new family now."

Ian's heart dropped a bit. He approached Mickey on the bed and lay down next to him, still in full uniform.

"I couldn't even say goodbye...", Ian mumbled.   
"I know, I'm sorry", Mickey whispered and rolled to his side, they were looking at each other and Mickey scooted closer, he kissed his forehead and they stayed like this for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day Mickey and Ian both were at work, Mickey came home first, and they followed their little married life rhythm again.

He made dinner for Ian and himself, Ian came home, smiled at him and they ate, fucked, cuddled and watched TV.

Now they lay in bed next to each other, Ian had his arms wrapped around his husband, Mickey couldn't sleep.

"Ian", Mickey whispered eventually.   
"Yeah?"   
"I miss Elijah"   
Ian sighed sadly, "I know."

Mickey turned around in his arms, so they were face to face.   
"Ian?"   
"Yes?", Ian forced himself to open his eyes a little.   
"I think I want a child."   
Ian smiled tiredly at him, "Really?"   
"Yes."

"You remember our conversation about kids when we got married?"   
"Of course I do... Fuck, who am I kidding, no one will ever get us a child, anyways", Mickey mumbled and stared at the ceiling again, "I've been to prison and you have a mental disorder, no social worker in the world would ever give us a baby."

Ian rubbed his arm gently, "It's gonna be okay, Mickey", he whispered.   
"It's not. We can't make a baby on our own and we already eliminated me fucking your little sister. We're running out of options."   
"What about a surrogate?"   
"With what money? If we'd have a child, we'd need a bigger apartment, we can't pay that and a surrogate."

Ian made Mickey roll back on his side so Ian could lean against him and cuddle up to him.   
"Then we'll save up money until we can afford it. Or at least talk to a social worker again and ask how sure it is that they won't give us a child."   
Mickey smiled softly and kissed the back of Ian's hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Around two weeks later, all hope was lost. Mickey was grumpy and bitchy, he now was on board with having a child - what was all Ian wanted - but there seemed to be no way for them to ever have one.

The social worker that was in charge of placing Elijah turned out to not be really gay-friendly and apart from that told them that "no sane person will give a child to a convict and a crazy fag."

"What if we adopt a baby from like... Africa or some shit?", Ian asked, "Would they have to approve us for adoption in the US though?"   
"Yes", Mickey growled.   
Ian sighed, "And if we get back to the idea of... you know, you and Debbie knocking out a few for us?"   
"I'm not gonna bang your little sister"   
"You don't have to, we can do it like with a surrogate."   
"She wouldn't just give us the child, we'd have to share with her."   
"Would that be so bad?"

Mickey got up from the couch they were sitting on, "Forget it Ian, it is over! It's over and done - the straights win! We can't make the babies on our own, so we don't deserve to have one! Miss Evan's little homophobic ass is right: I've been to prison for drug shit and attempted murder, and you torched a van in a manic episode when you thought you were Jesus! We're the last ones to ever get a child!", he ranted and disappeared in the kitchen, undoubtedly, to get a beer.

It reminded Ian on their wedding day, when Terry burned down the Bamboo and Mickey, who had put his whole love for Ian and hate for his dad into planning the wedding, gave up hope to ever win against Terry. But Ian would never let that happen.

He followed Mickey into the kitchen.   
"No, It's not over, Mick. They cleaned up your criminal record on the surface for rolling on your cartel, I can get some therapist to say I'm clear to care for a child. We will figure something out - we always did!"   
Mickey rolled his eyes, "Safe your optimistic Gallagher speeches, okay? Our only hope is that one of our relatives dies and leaves a child we can scoop up... hey, how much do you like your brother right now?"

"Mickey, don't kill my brother."   
Mickey sighed almost disappointedly.

"You don't get it Gallagher. You found a baby left alone in front of your station, we took care of him for two days and he was really fine. And the social worker said no one will ever give us one though. They'd rather put children into orphanages than with us."

An unbearable sadness and hopelessness washed over both of them and Ian just wordlessly pulled his husband into a hug.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been another month. No matter who they talked to, they always got the same answers. While it wasn't illegal for a mentally ill person and a convict to adopt a child, it was still almost impossible to get one at some point. Because, even if they would be approved as foster or adoptive parents, children would be placed with them as last resort - there were so many people with more money and less criminal history that would always be preferred.

Ian just finished his shift and left the station, when he came face to face with a group of teenagers. They were Gay-Jesus groupies, Ian recognised that immediately.

"Hey guys... what are you doing here, are you okay?"   
"We heard you and Mickey want to have a child.", one of them said - Ian wondered how the fuck she knew about that.   
"We can help."   
"How?", Ian asked sceptical, "I'm sorry, but there is no way Mickey and I'll ever get a baby, and we can't adopt any of you either. It's nice to offer though..."

"Some of us are ready to be your surrogate."   
Ian stared at the group with big eyes.   
"I'm sorry, what? You're children."   
"Over eighteen", another one said and stepped forward with a group of other girls, "You helped us, we want to help you."

"Uhm... guys, you don't know what you're talking about, you-"   
"We know what we're talking about. You won't be able to adopt a child because you torched the van. But you torched the van for us. We want to give back."

Ian sighed, "This is nice, really... but I can't ask this of you. You'd be pregnant for nine months and then just give us the child and never see it again - you really think you'd be ready for that? Just like that?"   
Some of them started to look doubtful.

Ian nodded, "See. Also, pregnancies aren't fun. Keep that option for your own children later, okay?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian decided to not tell Mickey about his conversations with the Gay Jesus Squad. There was no reason to bring up Mickey's hopes.

"Maybe we can contact Svetlana", Ian mumbled, "There is a chance Yevy might actually be your son, she would have to let you see him."   
"She would rather go back to Russia than give the child to either of us, less you than me. Which means something. The only thing she'll do is make me pay child support."

"It's time to accept it Freckles", Mickey mumbled and looked at his husband, "You spent all this time trying to make me want a child for nothing. We can't have one... maybe we should get a dog or some shit."   
"You hate dogs."   
"Then let's buy a sack of flour and wrap it in a blanket."

Ian sighed sadly and lay down on the couch, he put his head into Mickey's lap and decided to stare sadly at the wall. Mickey took a blanket and spread it over Ian, he ran his hand through his husbands red hair in an attempt to comfort him.

They stayed like that for a while, wallowing in self-pity, until a knock on the door disturbed them.

Ian groaned unhappily when Mickey got up and Ian had to lie on the bare couch instead of on him.   
Mickey smiled at him and then went to check who was at the door.

He was surprised when he came face to face with two women. One of them was dressed like a businesswoman, the other one was very pregnant.   
"Uhm... yeah?"   
"Mr Gallagher?", the businesswoman asked.   
"Yeah?"   
"I'm Grace Parker, I'm with Cradle-adoptions."

Mickey looked at them confused.   
He turned around towards the living room, "Hey Ian, could you come here..."

Ian appeared next to Mickey a few seconds later and looked just as confused at the two women.   
"What is happening?", he asked.   
"I'm Victoria Andrews", the pregnant girl said, "You are gay-Jesus, right? You saved my best friend."   
Ian blinked a few times, "Uhm, yes, I guess... Why don't you come in... sit down."

Mickey looked confused after his husband and the two women, Ian looked back at him and shrugged, he had no idea what was going on either. Mickey brought the women something to drink, just to busy himself.

"So... what brings you here?", Ian asked Victoria.  
"Well... you see, I'm pregnant."   
Mickey bit down a comment along the lines of "Yeah, no shit"   
"And I don't want to have it. When I found out, it was too late for an abortion already so... I decided to put my baby up for adoption... then my friend told me that you two want to have a child but think no one will give you one... but I would."

Ian grabbed Mickey's hand, "Really?"   
Mrs Parker now stepped in, "Well, at first my agency would have to screen you, make sure you are able to care for a child."   
Ian swallowed hard, "All the adoption agencies we talked with so far said that hardly anyone would approve us as adoptive parents, because of criminal records and mental health."

Parker nodded, "I'm aware of your criminal histories. However, it is not illegal for a felon and a mentally ill person to adopt a child. I will talk to your families, colleagues, probation officer and therapist. I will assure myself of your financial situation and that you got stable jobs and a stable environment. My niece here wants to give her child to you, I will make sure it's a good choice and then do what is necessary to make it happen."

Victoria smiled at them, "This way I at least know that my baby will be with good and nice people. I don't want to be in his life, I want to concentrate on school. But I want him to be part of a good family."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian almost couldn't believe their luck - Mickey couldn't believe it at all.   
Mrs Parker did a thorough research, but Ian's family was very supportive and told many great stories about Ian and Mickey taking care of Freddie and Franny. She finally, officially approved them as parents.

Ian was happy and jumped around their apartment and kissed Mickey all hours of the day. Mickey was sceptical.

"She's a teenager, what if she gives birth and then changes her mind? Happened often enough already. What if she won't give us the baby in the end?"   
"She will.", Ian cupped Mickey's face, "Mickey, we're finally lucky. It's time that luck is finally on our side. We've been through so much shit, this is only fair."

"Exactly my point. We've been through so much shit, Ian. When did anything ever worked out the way we wanted it? We had better chances on having the wedding I planed in detail and in the end, Dad burned down the Bamboo and we had to pretend I get married to your sister."

"Okay, yeah, not everything worked out the way we planed it, but in the end, we got married. We had a beautiful wedding Mickey, and that we are married is what counts. It still would have been the best day of my life so far if we would have gotten hitched in City Hall and celebrated in the Alibi. Okay? And it will work the same way with the baby. The way we got here may not be ideal, but she will give us a baby and that's all what counts."

Mickey sighed, "You're gonna be wrecked if she changes her mind", he whispered and ran his hand through Ian's red hair.   
Ian knew that was true, and he knew Mickey would be wrecked too, no matter how hard he tried to not get too friendly with the thought of getting Victoria's Baby.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mickey continued to be his pessimistic little self until Victoria finally gave birth to a healthy Baby Boy and after saying goodbye to him, smiled when she handed him over to the two men.

They signed some papers and Mickey was still in disbelieve when they were allowed to take the boy home with them. Mickey unlocked the apartment, Ian was carrying the baby.   
"Hey little man, welcome home.", Ian whispered to the baby.

Mickey could watch Ian and the baby forever and he wondered, if Ian felt like this when he always stared at Mickey holding babies.

They walked into their living room, where a surprise waited - the whole Gallagher clan, including Sandy, Kev and V were crammed in the tiny space.   
"There you are, finally", Lip grinned and made space on the couch for the three. They all quickly circled Ian to look at the baby.

"He's adorable", Debbie smiled.   
"You won't stay in this apartment though, right?", Tami asked, "he needs his own room at some point."   
Ian nodded, "We're working on it, but Mickey refused to look at new apartments until Victoria really gave us the child."

"Does he have a name or are we supposed to just call him 'he' from now on?", Mickey's cousin asked, she and Debbie were still a couple and Franny had pretty much accepted her as step-mommy and called her "Mommy Sandy" in an attempt to make Debbie keep Sandy around.

"His name is Andrew", Mickey smiled.   
"Whoa, not starting with an F, you really rebel against this generation of Gallagher's huh?"   
Mickey rolled his eyes, but yes, he didn't feel like making the F-thing of Freddie and Franny a tradition.   
Ian gasped lightly, "That was the reason", Ian said to him as if he had waited for this revelation all along, "And Andy fits in with the names all over your family. You're a sneaky bastard."   
Mickey just grinned at him and Ian kissed his cheek.


End file.
